New Arrival

Jaton was careful to duck his head as he cleared the door of the shuttle and walked into the main shuttlebay of the USS Lantau. He was a bit sad to leave his friends and colleagues on the Victory, but he realized that this was the opportunity of a lifetime. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that he would ever find himself posted to the Delta Quadrant. At the same time, he was slightly worried about being so far from home. He knew it could be years until he was back in the Alpha Quadrant, but he was at least assuaged by the fact that should anything happen to him, there were a couple unjoined Trills already onboard, so even if Jaton were to meet his fate out here on the final frontier, Alyl would live on.

He shook his head slightly and smiled. The likelihood of that happening was slim to none. He was going to excel and help to push out the frontier. He was going to make his mark on history. But before he could do that, he needed to report in.

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Jaton stepped out of the turbolift and onto the bridge. It seemed quite similar to the bridge of the Victory, so he was glad to be at least somewhat familiar with his new surroundings.

"Excuse me," he said to the officer on duty. "I'm looking for the captain. Do you know where she is?"

Glancing up from the display he was reading from, Johnny looked over the science officer. "Captain Haught is in her ready room, Lieutenant."

"Thank you, sir," Jaton replied, giving a polite smile and a small nod in response. He crossed the bridge towards the Ready Room, and rang the doorchime.

Evelynn stood at the window that looked out into space and just gazed at the beauty of the stellar field outside the ship. Hearing the door chime she snapped out of her reverie and turned around.

"Come in." she said. It was a tiring day and she was looking forward to a nice vacation down on the Planet Delacari.

Evelynn knew she was getting a new member to her senior staff, a new Chief Science Officer in fact, who was just recently awarded the promotion. She hadn't expected them until Thursday. They were early. She had made a mental note to send her complements to the pilot who brought her the new officer and to Starfleet Personnel for getting the young man's transfer through so quickly.

"You're early Lieutenant." she said with a smile on her face. "I like that initiative in my staff, specially my senior staff." Walking over to him she extended her hand. "I'm Fleet Captain Evelynn Haught. Welcome aboard the Lantau."

Jaton took her hand and shook it. "Thank you, ma'am. I'm very grateful and excited for this opportunity. I hope it's not too much trouble that I'm a few days early. I'm just very eager to get stuck into advancing the Federation's knowledge and pushing out the frontiers."

"Not at all." said Evelynn's. "We are actually just taking a bit of a respite from our last mission to recuperate so you arrived at a good time."

"I see," Jaton said. "Just a bit of shore leave? Sounds good. We just had some on my last assignment, but my mother showed up and that was... well I wouldn't recommend it."

Evelynn smiled faintly at the young officer before her. "So Lieutenant,tell me a little bit about yourself." she asked as she offered a seat on the couch.

Jaton was glad for the permission to relax a little more, and relaxed out of full attention and took a seat on the couch that the captain gestured to. "Well ma'am, but what would you like to know? I've been joined with Alyl for about six years, and I'm actually his first host. My main background is in geology, but I like to stay up to date with the latest developments in all the sciences as best as I can. I've been doing some work in tandem as well on geological warfare since its first use against the Jenarri last year."

"Do you have any other hobbies?" she asked.

"Well," he began, taken a little aback that the conversation would be anything other than absolutely professional, "I very much enjoy spending time at the beach. I surfed beaches all over Earth while I was at the Academy as well as on Trill. Oftentimes when I'm on starships, I'll substitute in a holodeck program to get some surf time in."

"Surfing to me seems fun but also dangerous." she said. "I've tried it once and ended up dislocating my shoulder and fracturing a couple ribs. After that I only swim in shallow waters."

"Well to each their own. I can see how a first experience like that might turn you off to it. So if I can ask ma'am, what do you prefer to do in your spare time?"

"I like painting and sculpting." Evelynn stood up and walked over to a shelf on a far wall and picked up a sculpture and then return and sat down. "I made this just before I left for Starfleet Academy."

"Oh interesting," Jaton said. "That's very good, ma'am. What did you make it out of?"

Evelynn thought back. "Let's see here. I made this out of Cherry wood." she said.

"Well done. I'm not much of an artist myself, but my older brother Kazran dabbled a bit when he was younger."

Evelynn smiled. "I have a few more statues that my family back on Earth have. My father gave me this one when I first took command of this fine vessel."

"Fascinating. Where is your father now? On Earth?"

"He's back home on Earth, enjoying his retirement."

Jaton nodded, smiling. “Ah Earth. I have many good memories of my time there. I met my first boyfriend while I was on leave in Hawaii.” He shook his head. “Well ma’am, I believe I’ve taken up too much of your time. I should check in with the quartermaster and with the science department.”

"Oh that's alright. I'm just glad to have you on board. If there is anything I can do for you just let me know." said Evelynn.

“Thank you, ma’am. I’m glad to be aboard.” Jaton stood and shook her hand. He then left the office to get settled in and get to the task of pushing forward the frontiers of the Federation.